Media – 2013

I do not believe that most auditors are adequately trained to find fraud and do battle with fraudsters of my former caliber. Documents don’t commit fraud; the people controlling the documents commit fraud. For example, most auditors are not taught fraud psychology — the behavioral dynamics of fraud. Auditors are rarely taught about emotional manipulation and misdirection used by fraudsters to manipulate their behavior during audits and successfully carry out their crimes. They are unprepared for the psychological games played by fraudsters.

Some in the community didn’t believe that the committee would be effective from the start. Sam E. Antar, a Syrian Jew who pleaded guilty to fraud in 1991 as the chief financial officer of Crazy Eddie, a prominent New York-area electronics store, said he was not surprised by the lack of follow-up on the part of the SCF.

“Back in 2010 I questioned the sincerity of the Sephardic Community Federation’s efforts to reform charities and the effectiveness of its purported reforms,” Antar said. “The fact that they won’t speak, provide any update or even admit that the program still exists is of no surprise to me. Maybe they were just playing to the crowd back in 2010?”

“Eighty percent of what Ackman had said was already out there,” said Sam E. Antar, a convicted felon who gained fame as CFO of Crazy and now is a consultant on White Color fraud, in an interview. He added that the SEC has been aware of abusive practices of multi-level marketers for years and failed to address them.

Though Antar is rooting for Ackman to prevail, he said it will not be easy given the power of the multi-level marketing industry.